Hockey East Journal: An even eight

After a wild year that featured a tightly contested race for
playoff positioning, with even more emphasis placed on league wins
in a shorter schedule, and a new playoff structure for the first
time in two decades, the Hockey East season comes down to just two
more weekends.

With the one-and-done first round in the books, eight teams are
set to clash in the quarterfinals. While the new playoff format
ensured everyone got into the postseason, it’s once again the
top 8 teams playing for a chance to move on to TD Garden for next
weekend’s semifinals and final, as the higher seeds all won
their single-elimination games last weekend.

The first games of the best-of-three series are set for tonight,
so let’s take a look at the matchups. All series played at
the higher seed’s building.

Boston College (1) vs. Notre Dame (8)

Oddly enough, this one might be the hardest series to handicap.
The royal red carpet has basically been laid at the Eagles feet for
most of the year, and they’ve lost only two league games all
season. It just so happens that Notre Dame is the owner of one of
those rare wins, albeit in an end-of-season contest that
couldn’t have mattered less to BC. While the Eagles lead the
league in offense with 4.18 goals per game, the Irish are sixth,
averaging just under three per game. But Notre Dame has played
strong defense, allowing a second-best 2.00 goals per game on the
other end, just ahead of BC’s 2.09. While the Eagles have
three of the league’s top four scorers in Johnny Gaudreau
(30-34–64), Dorchester, Mass., native Kevin Hayes
(22-29–51) and Needham, Mass., native Bill Arnold
(12-32–44), the Irish have used a more balanced group of
scorers, with T.J. Tynan (8-25–33) leading the way. While
Notre Dame’s debut in Hockey East has been slightly
underwhelming as far as league games go, the Irish bolstered their
national resume with a 12-3-0 non-conference record, and after
winning last year’s CCHA title, they’ve got some
playoff mettle.

Merritt’s pick: Boston College in 3

UMass-Lowell (2) vs. Vermont (7)

The Catamounts enter the quarterfinals as one of the
league’s hottest teams, going 7-3-0 over their last 10 games.
Only Boston College (8-1-1) has been better over that stretch.
They’ve done it thanks to the timely arrival of some offense.
The Catamounts were averaging 2.71 goals per game over their first
24, eighth-best in the conference. But over the last 10, UVM has
averaged 3.20 goals per game, again second only to BC over that
stretch. A big part of that surge has been the emergence of Mario
Puskarich, one of the nation’s top freshmen. His 18 goals and
16 assists have him just two points behind Northeastern’s
Mike Szmatula (12-24–36) for the league’s rookie
scoring lead. Meanwhile, the River Hawks might not be having quite
the same magical season as last year’s title-winning year,
but they’re not far off, and have gotten some impeccable
goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck in the starting role. After
splitting time with Hanover, Mass., native Doug Carr for the first
half (and missing four games in the middle of the year), Hellebuyck
retook the No. 1 spot for all but two of the final 13 games, and
UML went 7-3-3 over that stretch. One of those three losses,
however, came in the season finale against Vermont, which bounced
back from a 1-0 overtime loss the night before to edge the River
Hawks, 3-2, on March 1.

Merritt’s pick: UMass-Lowell in 3

Providence (3) vs. Maine (6)

Despite being two founding Hockey East teams with loads of
history on both sides, the Friars and Black Bears are meeting in
the playoffs for the first time since 2001, when PC beat Maine in
the semifinals. This year, the Friars took the season series with a
sweep just two weeks ago, outscoring the Black Bears 7-4 over the
two games. The Black Bears have made some big improvements in Red
Gendron’s first year behind the bench, though they finished
the regular season on a four-game winless streak before dispatching
Merrimack last weekend. Sophomore Devin Shore has been a revelation
for Maine, leading the team with 14 goals and 27 assists, and
Martin Ouellette has been solid in net with a .927 save percentage.
Goaltending has been where Providence has lived and died this year,
as Jon Gillies (South Portland, Maine.) has taken a bit of a step
back in his sophomore season. Though his .927 save percentage
matches Ouellette’s, expectations were a little higher than
that after his masterful rookie campaign. Still, he’s pieced
together a strong finish to the year, with a .933 save percentage
over the last six games. If the shakiness he showed throughout
January is gone, he could be the Friars’ biggest weapon, and
even a key to bringing Providence to the Garden.

Merritt’s pick: Maine in 3

New Hampshire (4) vs. Northeastern (5)

Only three current members of the Northeastern team –
Braden Pimm, Cody Ferriero (Essex, Mass.) and Clay Witt –
have any playoff experience, having participated in 2011. But the
last of those names is the reason the Huskies have real hope in
this series. Witt has had one of the most incredible goaltending
years in recent memory, having made 40 or more saves in five games
this season – including a 52-save marathon against Providence
on Dec. 6. Witt’s numbers have dipped sharply over the last
few weeks, but he still has the league’s third-highest save
percentage (.935), and has averaged 33 saves per game all year. On
the other end, the Wildcats have had a solid if unspectacular
season, with Kevin Goumas leading the way in his senior season with
14 goals and 31 assists. Goumas has largely played on a line with
Nick Sorkin and Matt Willows, and that trio is among the best in
the league, combining for 40 goals in 2013-14. UNH enters this
weekend playing pretty average hockey, having gone 5-3-0 over its
last eight, while the Huskies are 3-4-1 over that same stretch,
including an ominous pair of losses to Boston University in the
final weekend of the regular season.

Merritt’s pick: UNH in 2

Player of the Week

Martin Ouellette, sr., Maine

Ouellette turned aside all 29 shots taken by Merrimack in
Saturday’s victory, making a little history with a shutout in
the first round, the first of its kind under the new Hockey East
playoff format.

Hockey East Playoffs (Quarterfinals)

Friday, March 14

Northeastern at UNH, 7 p.m.

Maine at Providence, 7 p.m. (Cox)

Vermont at UMass-Lowell, 7 p.m.

Notre Dame at Boston College, 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 15

Notre Dame at Boston College, 4 p.m. (NESN)

Northeastern at UNH, 7 p.m. (WBIN)

Maine at Providence, 7 p.m. (Cox)

Vermont at UMass-Lowell, 7 p.m.

Sunday, March 16 (all games if necessary) (NESN slated to
broadcast one of the Game 3s)

Northeastern at UNH, 4:30 p.m.

Maine at Providence, 4:30 p.m.

Vermont at UMass-Lowell, 4:30 p.m.

Notre Dame at Boston College, 4:30 p.m.

Hockey East power rankings

Boston College (25-5-4, 16-2-2 HEA) –
The Eagles finished with the best offense in Hockey East for the
fifth straight season, scoring an average of 4.18 goals per game
– one whole goal more per game than next-best
Northeastern.

UMass-Lowell (21-8-4, 11-6-3 HEA) –
Although the River Hawks hit a little skid to finish the regular
season, they’re 8-0-3 in their last 11 games at the Tsongas
Center, a home unbeaten streak that stretches back to Nov. 9.

Vermont (19-12-3, 10-10-0 HEA) –
Connor Brickley (Everett, Mass.) not only gave the
Catamounts a dramatic game-winner with just 1:07 to go in last
weekend’s first-round win over UMass, he pulled to within two
points of 50 for his career.

New Hampshire (19-16-1, 11-9-0 HEA) –
The No. 4 seed in the Hockey Eass playoffs is the highest for the
Wildcats in three years, giving them a home quarterfinal series for
the first time since 2011, when they swept Vermont.

Providence (19-9-6, 11-7-2 HEA) – This
marks the third straight year that the Friars are in the
quarterfinals, a feat not achieved by Providence since 2006-08.
They’re also hosting a quarterfinal series for the second
straight year – the first time PC has done that twice in a
row since 1996-97.

Notre Dame (21-12-2, 9-9-2 HEA) – After
finishing the regular season with two games against BU and one
against BC, the Irish beat the Terriers in last week’s first
round game, and visit the Eagles for at least two games this
weekend.

Maine (16-13-4, 9-8-3 HEA) – The next
goal defenseman Ben Hutton scores will break the
school single-season record for defenseman. Hutton joins
Dwight Montgomery, Jack Capuano and Jeff
Tory as the current record holders with 13 goals in a
season.

Northeastern (18-12-4, 10-8-2 HEA) –
Goaltender Clay Witt’s 16 victories are
fourth on the all-time single-season list at Northeastern, and his
next shutout will tie him for the school single-season record
(5).

Boston University (10-21-4, 5-12-3 HEA)
– BU’s loss in the Hockey East first round means this
is the first time in the 30-year history of Hockey East that the
Terriers will miss the quarterfinals.

Merrimack (8-22-3, 3-15-2 HEA) – While
his Merrimack career ended on a sour note with last week’s
loss, Roslindale, Mass., native Mike Collins
signed a professional tryout contract with the Providence Bruins on
Wednesday.

UMass (8-22-4, 4-13-3 HEA) – After
reaching the Hockey East quarterfinals in 10 straight seasons, the
Minutemen have now missed out two years in a row.